Poisson cru à la Tahitienne
I love to eat fish. During my trip to Polynesia, I ate raw fish with coconut milk almost daily, mostly for lunch but sometimes even for breakfast. One of my favorite dishes was the authentic poisson cru à la Tahitienne. Discover this delicious dish often made with fresh tuna!
Poisson cru with yellowfin tuna
The Tahitians love yellowfin tuna, and they often use it to prepare poisson cru à la Tahitienne. The fish should be as fresh as possible and that is not an issue in French Polynesia.
Not a fan of tuna? You can also use bonito, swordfish, sea bream or mackerel.
Fresh coconut milk
The biggest challenge is fresh coconut milk. For this you need freshly grated coconut. You can easily find the coconut in the supermarket, just make sure that it contains water, a sign of freshness. Shake the coconut before buying. Definitely do not use canned coconut milk, it will ruin the dish.
Making fresh coconut milk
For the fresh coconut milk, you need 1 coconut.
Polynesians use a manual or electric coconut grater to remove the pulp. If you don't have one, use a spoon to scrape the coconut flesh from the nut and grind it with a blender.
Then put the mixed pulp in a muslin cloth. Roll it into a ball, and squeeze out the ‘milk’ over a bowl. You now have a velvety, creamy liquid.
You can use the left-over pulp for cookies and cakes.
Ingredients
For 4 people
- 400 grams very fresh yellowfin tuna
- 1 small tomato
- ¼ cucumber
- 1 small carrot
- ½ red onion
- Juice of 1 lime
- 75 ml fresh coconut milk, as explained above
- A few sprigs cilantro and mint
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Preparation
First, cut the tuna into cubes no larger than 1 cm. Then place them in salted water and set aside in a cool place.
Peel the tomato and cucumber, remove the seeds and slice them thinly. Grate the carrot and cut the onion into fine slices.
Pat the tuna dry and mix the fish with the vegetables. Add the lime juice. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. The lime juice "cooks" the raw fish.
Just before serving the poisson cru mix in the coconut milk. Finally, finish this refreshing dish with mint and cilantro.
I ate many variations of poisson cru à la Tahitienne in French Polynesia. Sometimes white cabbage and a little garlic were added.
![SG 19 poisson cru]()
